What's subsequent for the artisanal aesthetic?
A surge in craft beer and gin companies has popularized a certain quirky design approach, but has the trend taken its course and what does the idea of “craft” mean for beverage brands today?
Imagine a trip to your local off-license or bottle shop. Shelves are filled with rows of shiny cans and bottles, many of which are wrapped in bright, illustrated labels that carry the promise of the craft. In fact, with so much defiant anti-graphic design and so many clashing colors and scribbled drawings, it can be difficult to tell one craft beer brand from another. In the rush of independent companies to define themselves versus great beer, have you all landed on the same visual field?
"It almost feels like the tropics don't exist," says Natalie Redford, creative strategist at Robot Food who has worked with brands like Masons of Yorkshire, Vocation Brewery and Hawkes.
“The artisan aesthetic just breaks the rules,” she continues. "With beer, it started with this craft and it's all about brewing, but as it evolves it gets more expressive and vivid – and the other side of the scale is Scandi's influence, where it's super withdrawn."
Walking into a bottle store is almost like walking into a grown-up Willy Wonka chocolate factory of amazing design
"It's difficult now to pinpoint the aesthetics of the craft because I think there are actually a lot of different aesthetics to put under that bubble of craft. Going to a bottle store is almost like going to a grown-up Willy Wonka chocolate factory amazing design. But it's completely overwhelming. What craft beer has done is basically give it permission to break the rules more. "